Shadow costs: how to fix your bottom line

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What are shadow costs? They are costs related to your workforce’s behaviour. Examples include any number of justifications, outbursts, lack of enthusiasm or demonstrations of stress. There is a solution. Read on.

In the study below the word incivility refers to both the cause and effect of disruption. It is one of the most exhaustive and alarming studies showing the bottom line cost of business as normal. If you want to improve your organizations performance you need to know the details behind what this study reveals.

Study: Through a poll of 800 managers and employees in 17 industries, we learned just how people’s reactions play out. Among workers who’ve been on the receiving end of incivility (a major cause of disruption in the workplace):

  • 48% intentionally decreased their work effort.
  • 47% intentionally decreased the time spent at work.
  • 38% intentionally decreased the quality of their work.
  • 80% lost work time worrying about the incident.
  • 63% lost work time avoiding the offender.
  • 66% said that their performance declined.
  • 78% said that their commitment to the organization declined.
  • 12% said that they left their job because of the uncivil treatment.
  • 25% admitted to taking their frustration out on customers.

A quick estimate the associated costs and performance impacts of behaviour on your business demonstrates the value of investing in soft skills.

We implore you to read the full article below and to reach out to us. There is a solution that applies to all of these symptoms and is surprisingly easy to implement.

Addressing your shadow costs needs to be part of your strategic planning. The impact on your bottom line is staggering.

Full Article: Harvard Business Review – The Price of Incivility LINK: https://hbr.org/2013/01/the-price-of-incivility

7 thoughts on “Shadow costs: how to fix your bottom line”

    1. James Lauber

      Thank you for your kind words and your support.
      We are glad you are enjoying our content. 🙂

  2. website host

    First off I want to say great blog! I had a quick question which I’d like
    to ask if you don’t mind. I was curious to find out how you center yourself and clear your
    mind before writing. I’ve had difficulty clearing my mind in getting my thoughts out.
    I do take pleasure in writing however it just seems like the first
    10 to 15 minutes tend to be lost just trying to figure out how to begin. Any
    suggestions or tips? Many thanks!

    1. James Lauber

      Hi Jonathon,

      Thank you for your support and thanks for your question. I will do my best to answer it here.

      My approach to blog writing is to quickly “blurt” out my thoughts without paying attention to spelling, grammar or sentence structure. Once the idea is captured I save a copy of the blurt and start editing. The blurt copy is so I can always refer back to the raw thought. Once I have finished my first edit and think it’s publishable I put it aside. Later I return to read it, sometimes I ask others to read it and get their input also. This usually results in another edit. The reread and edit cycle may be repeated as many times as needed until I feel the message may be of value to someone. Then I let go and publish the post knowing that some will like it and some will not. Posting is not about me, it’s about putting out something that hopefully be useful to you, the reader.

      Thanks again Jonathan,
      James

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